* After you read this report you may want to check out the pictorial updates in our Disneyland Resort Pictorial Update section

Friday was a great day at the Disneyland Resort. The parks had healthy crowds but a tad on the light side considering its summer season still. Most attractions at DCA were near walkons and over at Disneyland lines varied but were light with a couple exceptions. Pirates is back to a regular length now of 15-20 minutes.

Jason

Trip logs and mileage reports are in the Park Miles section.

DCA & Disneyland Notes:

• The first thing that caught my eye was the new turn style at Disneyland. Well I guess its really just a new computer I think the turn style is the same. They have replaced the keypad the CM used with a touch screen. For Annual Passholders your picture pops up on the screen nice and large for the CM to see. Wonder if this means new APs are coming someday.. The picture quality for mine was quite bad since my picture is several years old. The person in front of me had a full color photo that looked fairly good in quality. Hopefully this will help speed up the lines.
  
  
• As you saw in the pictorial update Halloween Time @ Disneyland is getting more play this year with a sign up at the exit already and several stores along Main Street already transformed. I thought it was a bit early (two weeks before Labor Day) but it does look to be an interesting Fall at the Disneyland Resort.
  
  
• From what I have read online there are several new entertainment offerings around Disneyland. I was able to experience two of them Friday but I really wish they were listed in the time guide.. I would find that more useful than the FastPass schedule..
  • The first new act I saw were the Straw Hatters. They were boarding the Mark Twain around 4:00pm and played a medley of Dixieland songs as we cruised the Rivers of America. I thought it was great to be able to enjoy a live band onboard again. I have not done that in years since I was there one morning and caught the Disneyland Band, but on Friday afternoons I do not remember ever seeing a band on board.. they also perform on Main Street I hear.
    
    
  • The second new offering I experienced was the Flag Retreat, which has morphed into a full blown productions. I was really impressed and pleased to see this. Hopefully other guests appreciate it too. The first change I noticed was a 15 minute and a 5 minute announcement saying to join the Disneyland Band and march down Main Street to Town Square for the Flag Retreat. Throughout the entire presentation the PA Announcer kept coming on to say what was going on and I assume this was piped throughout Town Square and maybe up Main Street? It was a little hard for me to hear since I was standing right next to the drums (next time I will find a different location to really be able to hear). The Disneyland Band comes down the street and stops around where the Christmas Tree usually goes and played a song there. Then they come and circle the Flag Pole facing the the Castle (the train station is the backdrop). They play an armed forces medley and before each branch's song a famous quote is played. The quotes sounded to be the same ones from Golden Dream (JKF, Martin Luther King Jr., the Apollo Moon Landing, etc..). After that they play one more song and the color guard arrives and approaches the flag pole. The Star Spangled Banner is played and the flags lowered. Then Stars and Strips Forever was played and the flags folded. After folding the color guard turned around and faced the flag pole and God Bless America was played. Then they turned around and led a procession as the flags were carried away and the band followed them backstage. It was about a 15-20 minute production and a great plus. I hope it sticks around for a while.
    
    
• I was walking by the VMK(Virtual Magic Kingdom) area (taking pictures of the Radio Disney demo work) and noticed a new quest. They have a Pirates of the Caribbean Treasure Hunt. Just for picking up the card you get a Pirates of the Caribbean Well and a surprise code. Then after answering the four questions you get a Pirates Fortress Room. For those who do not play the VMK I would still recommend these park quests. The first reason is the trivia questions are fun and many are quite challenging. Secondly its free and the trading cards you get as prizes are nice keepsakes for FREE.
  

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